Five Women Faculty Members Appointed to Endowed Positions at South Dakota State University

Lacy Knutson is the Lucas P. Wintrode Assistant Professor of Special Education-Autism Studies. She is the founding member and first elected president of the South Dakota Association for Behavior Analysis. Dr. Knutson is a graduate of South Dakota State University, where she majored in psychology. She went on to earn a master’s degree in applied behavior analysis at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. After six years in the clinical field, she returned to school to further her education at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, receiving her doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis.

Erin Miller is the Gail M. Gullickson Endowed Assistant Professor in the department of allied and population health. She is the interim director of the Community Practice Innovation Center. A member of the faculty since 2020, Dr. Miller’s research interests include access to care, substance use disorder services (prevention, treatment and recovery), practice-based research, implementation science, rural health, and leadership. Dr. Miller holds an MBA and a pharmacy doctorate from North Dakota State University.

Karen Sanguinet holds the Maynard Klingbeil Endowed Chair and is head of the agronomy, horticulture & plant science department. She joined the faculty in 2025 after teaching for 11 years at Washington State University. Her research focuses on root development and stress tolerance in a variety of crops. Dr. Sanguinet is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in genetics and horticulture. She earned a Ph.D. in plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Erica Summerfield is the Karen D. Stuck Endowed Assistant Professor of Agricultural Communication. She joined the faculty in 2024. Her research focuses on the use of agricultural communication to solve complex issues in rural communities with a focus on design, agricultural literacy, and safety and health. Dr. Summerfield holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural leadership and a master’s degree in agricultural communication from Oklahoma State University. She earned a Ph.D. in agricultural communication, education, and leadership from Ohio State University.

Rachel Willand-Charnley is the Bill and Nancy Wadsworth Research Faculty Scholar and Associate Professor. She is an interdisciplinary applied organic chemist and chemical biologist specializing in organic chemistry, glycobiology, and cancer immunology. Dr. Williams-Charnley is a graduate of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where she majored in biology. She holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.